Town Meeting on the State of Plainfield's Finances This Thursday, October 29 at Plainfield Library

Dear Friends,

Over the past several days, I have received many phone calls and other communications from residents concerning the state of Plainfield's finances and the management thereof. Most of these calls focused on recent revelations concerning the failure of the Robinson-Briggs administration to appoint a CFO, the duties of that office, the illegal useof an expired signature stamp on municipal checks in direct violation of state law, and the letter sent to the mayor and council from Susan Jacobucci, the Director of the Division of Local Government Services, demanding that the administration immediately stop this "improper" use of the signature stamp and appoint a CFO.

Other concerns had to do with the fact that, as of now, a budget for FY2010 has not been presented to the council for approval. The fear of a significant tax increase has been expressed by many property owners, some of whom are struggling to pay their mortgages, food bills, and increased utility (such as PMUA and water) rates.

It is against this backdrop that I have scheduled a Town Hall meeting for this coming Thursday, October 29, 2009 from 6:30 - 8:30 pm at the Plainfield Public Library*. I am offering this opportunity to hear from a broader cross-section of residents and property owners about the many concerns they have.

Although taxes may be the main subject that residents bring up, it may not be the only one. Other matters that residents have contacted me about are the lax manner in which the current road repairs are being handled, lack of progress on the Muhlenberg situation, the Senior Citizens Center and Monarch project, and the disruption of a successful voluntary sports program, the Queen City Baseball League, by unilateral moves by the Robinson-Briggs administration to establish another league under the control of the Division of Recreation.

This is another in a series of Town Hall meetings that I will be hosting to provide residents with a forum to express their views on local municipal matters. All residents are invited to attend and participate by expressing their concerns and what they would like to see the City Council do about them. In addition, elected officials wishing to stop by to hear the people's concerns are invited to do so. Please come out and let your voices be heard.

The Plainfield Library is located at 8th Street and Park Avenue and is a handicap-accessible facility. Kindly park in the 9th Street lot, if possible.

Regards,

Adrian

P.S. Look out for Part Three of "The Mayor Dropped the Ball." It will deal more specifically with the illegal conveyance of city-owned property based on the Public Land and Buildings Law.

*This meeting will take the place of my regularly scheduled Thursday office hours.

The Mayor Dropped the Ball - -Part Two

Regarding my remarks concerning Council President Burney’s behavior at this past Thursday’s special meeting, I stand by what I wrote about the attempted violation of the Sunshine law. I was frustrated by Council President Burney’s lack of knowledge about how many votes are needed for any resolution to pass, especially after he has spent so many years on the council. The meeting was taped and will be transcribed and I believe it will second my statements about the sequence of events. Be that as it may, I do not feel that it will harm our working together on behalf of the residents of Plainfield.

Here are some additional thoughts as to why I say, “The Mayor Dropped the Ball!”

Later in the evening, at the special meeting of Thursday, September 24, I informed my colleagues and the administration that it was my position that the city-owned property upon which the Monarch was constructed was illegally conveyed by to the developer by the city’s redevelopment agency, the Union County Improvement Association (UCIA). I arrived at this conclusion based on two documents in my possession:

1) Resolution 281-06, adopted on June 21, 2006, that required Mayor Robinson-Briggs to execute an agreement with the UCIA; and

2) Resolution 402-06, adopted on August 23, 2006, amending the original resolution and requiring the Mayor to execute another agreement with the UCIA. The following facts are critical to this discussion:

The Inter-local Service Agreement (ILA) between the City and the UCIA, which was part of Resolution 281-06 that was to be executed by the Mayor and attested to by the City Clerk, was never executed.

Resolution 402-06, which made reference to an ILA dated July 05, 2006, in its first paragraph was flawed because no such properly executed ILA exists;

Resolution 402-06 attempted to amend resolution 281-06 to add the Monarch city-owned site to the sites intended to be controlled by the UCIA, but this amendment, which was required to be executed by the Mayor and attested by the City Clerk was never executed.

In summary, none of the agreements between the City and the UCIA in its role as the city’s redevelopment agency were ever executed.

The Mayor dropped the ball. This deserves an explanation and a cure before any further action or discussion on a proposed abatement occurs.

It should be noted that I made a request for signed agreements from the administration, but none were presented. I obtained the documents that formed the basis for my conclusion from the office of the City Clerk, who serves as the Custodian of all city records.

Regards, Adrian